What Do You Carry?

Some of us carry small, individual burdens that cause us to walk through life with some struggle. Some of us carry many small burdens. Altogether, these burdens weigh us down and become too heavy for us to carry. Others carry much larger burdens that over time have become too much to bear. You may carry a burden that in the first place wasnt yours to carry. You might not even have realised how much the burden weighed you down until one day, it dawned on you that it had become unbearable. God doesnt want us to carry our burdens. He asks us to lay them down at the foot of the cross. He wants us to surrender our heavy loads to him. Psalm 68 v 19 - 20 says, Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens. Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

Jesus said in Matthew 11 v 28 30, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. It takes an act of our own will to give up our burdens. We can sit in the presence of God and hear Him speaking to us but today you and I need to take action to allow God to give us His peace by laying down that which causes us pain or has become too heavy for us to carry. The act of laying down your burden may be just the beginning for you it may be appropriate for you to seek help in finding His peace, strength and comfort. For you it may be that a simple act of faith and surrender is all that is needed, while promising yourself that once you have laid it down you wont be tempted to pick it up again! Pastor Ian Clarkson

Registered Charity No: 514359

Our Hope is in Christ Jesus

Mind-blowing, earth-shaking, life-giving resurrection. The historical resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ cant be compared with natural events such as erupting volcanoes, terrifying tsunamis or even the speed and power of a meteor smashing to the earth. Why not? Firstly, when Jesus rose from the dead, it was a supernatural event. Yes, it shook the earth, [There was a violent earthquake , Matthew 28 verse 2] but more powerfully, it changed things in spiritual places for ever. Secondly, the resurrection meant that death was no longer final. Death could not keep Jesus down because sin causes death, and Jesus never sinned. No wonder He rose from the dead!
Those who discover this to be true accept that through His resurrection, Jesus made the way for every single one of us to be freed from the power of death. Yes, of course our bodies will die, but death is not the end we love to sing these Bible words, The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in me! So lets ask Gods forgiveness; ask God to fill us with His Holy Spirit and then live the rest of our lives as Christians, followers and imitators of Christ. The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give you life - by this very same Spirit living within you. Romans 8 v 11 (NLT) Pastor Andrew Gardner Praying for one another was something the apostles encouraged the early church to do and 2,000 years later, its still a great habit to develop in our church family. For a long time weve had a team of people ready and willing to pray for folk after our worship services, but many people seem to be rather embarrassed to ask for this sort of help. Perhaps we wonder what people will think that we are particularly weak or sinful, maybe! Or we may think our problems aren t that serious and that we ought to be able to handle them on our own. Wed love to make praying for one another a normal and comfortable thing to do. We can pray for big things or everyday thing; a bereavement; a tricky situation at work; your 6 -yearolds fall-out with a friend nothing is off limits for God or the prayer team! So weve re-launched our Prayer Team and are looking for ways to make praying together natural, safe, comfortable and a brilliant resource for the church family. Do make use of us prayer is powerful and it is for us all. Hazel Sewell

Mission Matters
I absolutely love other cultures and countries and, being half Brazilian myself, it was ace to see an opportunity to go to Brazil for the World Cup on a mission trip. I first heard about Operation Mobilisation through my mum as she spent two years on their ship, Doulos. When I found out that OM would be taking a team to the World Cup, I knew I had to be on it. I committed the trip to God and rejoiced that He gives me the freedom to make decisions as I keep Him at the centre of it all. I was so happy when it all came together smoothly, from booking the flights to getting lots of overtime at work to be able to fund it!
So, on June 10th I will fly to Sampa (Sao Paulos nickname) in Brazil to volunteer for 16 days. I'll only find out specifics when I get there, but my general work will include working with the chaplaincy in airports, water-bottle handouts, soccer schools with the local children and outreach in and around the stadiums. We may split up into smaller teams to go to surrounding cities, but Im sure this will be very true to the Latino culture in that it will happen spontaneously if its going to! It would be great if you could pray for all the travelling and connections, overall safety and that we will make an eternal difference to the people we meet. It's an experience that doesn't come around often and it would be incredible if the Brazil World Cup 2014 is a time where people meet their Saviour! Thank you, Savannah. Savannah Watkins

OneLine News
The girls had a fantastic evening at Shines Night of Fashion on the 26th April, which included swapping clothes, painting nails and putting on a fashion show. This month Friday night Live goes on tour with some fresh Fridays, the first one was a strike with bowling , then lazer tag but theres still more to come! You are invited to The Free Methodist Annual Conference, being held here on 16th/17th May with guest speaker Bishop David Roller. Pastor Ian is being ordained on Friday 16th May at the Conference Celebration here at Fulwood - come along to support and celebrate. Put a date in your diary for Sunday 25th May when we will be joined at Fulwood FMC for an evening Celebration Service by Kings Church, Penwortham Pastor Mike Faun will be speaking. Congratulations to Dave Sewell, Geoff Tomlinson and Margaret Marshall on their recent and upcoming retirements. Advance notice praying round the Guild Wheel event on June 21st more to follow. The brilliant picture of the bluebell on the front cover was taken in Brock Woodlands by Tim Ball thanks Tim!